Buddhist atheists

[Angrboda]

Meh.

First, you have to understand that Buddhism is not a unified faith like Catholicism. It is a great river with many tributaries, including atheistic ones, as well as frankly theistic ones (The Pure Land Sect comes to mind). While there is no holy book per se, there are multiple canons corresponding to some of the different branches, with each assigning credibility and authority to different sets of texts, usually based on presumed records of the Buddha's direct teachings; mind you, this is a generalization and a generalization only. While Buddhism doesn't on the whole require belief in gods, or interest in them if they exist, most streams of Buddhism incorporate the metaphysical doctrines of Karma and Reincarnation. Given that these beliefs are not particularly well evidenced, most atheists, being skeptical of unsubstantiated metaphysical doctrines, would chafe at this. But then, as noted, there is room for great variation between particular Buddhists and particular Buddhisms, as well as among particular atheists. (I know of a few atheists who consider their atheism to consist in rejecting all supernatural beliefs; they obviously would find the metaphysics objectionable.)

Beyond that are matters which, again, vary amongst believers, and Buddhisms to believe in. Many east Asian Buddhisms incorporate a praxis of meditation. Many Buddhisms posit rather unorthodox views on psychology and the mind. And most, entail ritual obligations, all the way from the sensible, such as the eightfold path, to the bizarre, like the guru relationship in some Vajrayana Buddhisms. I'm told things are a lot less ritualistic in the West than the East, but that's from word of mouth. And again, variation amongst the elements of the particular person's Buddhist beliefs, their particular atheist views, and the norms of the particular Buddhism can all co-vary to create an enormously complex landscape.

My hunch tells me the more purely humanist, secular Buddhisms are largely the province of Western practitioners, but that's just a guess.

Anyway, clear as mud, eh?


Anyway, take this with a grain of salt. I am not a Buddhist in spite of several very temporary conversions. I have an interest in religion in general and the streams of Buddhism intersected with my Taoism in China, so I am in some ways more familiar than I might be, but also likely more biased than any practicing Buddhist.

For your investigation:
by Stephen Batchelor
also by Stephen Batchelor